Warrenspiece: A new chapter in the Sexton history with Sens, Stone could be done for year, Aho talks about the other Aho

RALEIGH, North Carolina — When Ben Sexton stepped on the ice at the PNC Arena Monday, he completed a family circle with the Ottawa Senators.

In his own career, finally reaching the NHL at 26 is “a dream come true,” never giving up hope after four seasons of college and five years in the AHL.

The fact that Sexton is the son of Senators founder and former Senators GM Randy Sexton provides a rich and compelling background to the story.

Naturally, when Ben received the promotion, the first call went out his parents – Randy and Joanne.

“They sacrificed a lot for me and my brothers (Michael and Patrick) growing up to play this game and I thought they deserved the first call,” he said.

All of the Sextons, along with Sexton’s fiancée, Steph, were in attendance Monday.

LIFELONG SENATORS FAN: Ben Sexton was born in June, 1991, 16 months before the Senators played their first game. He was two years old when his father was named Senators’ general manager. It’s safe to say he was born with the Senators on his brain.

“I’ve dreamed of being an Ottawa Senator ever since I was a little boy,” he said. “I don’t remember much of the games when I was really young. I remember those Sens carnivals and Spartacat and the meet the players events and I tried to get as many autographs as I can. And, of course, I always went to Senators games growing up.”

Daniel Alfredsson and Mike Fisher were his idols.

“The way they played the game, the way they carried themselves and how involved they were in the community, I looked up to them,” he said.

Sexton played two seasons with the Nepean Raiders of the CJHL, another year with Penticton in the BCHL, and four seasons at Clarkson University. Drafted by the Boston Bruins in 2009, he turned pro in 2013-14 and has held out hope of taking the next step for five seasons.

The 2017-18 season has been a difficult one, missing several months with a concussion injury, but he was recalled to the NHL after scoring 14 points in 12 games with Belleville.

“Any time you miss an extended period of time, it’s not much fun,” said Sexton, who spent some time in Ottawa receiving treatment. “There’s a lot of waiting around and hoping to get better with an injury like that. (When I returned), I was fortunate to play with some good players down there and the numbers started to come.”

STONE’S PROGNOSIS NOT GOOD: Unless Mark Stone’s injury situation changes dramatically in the next few days, we might have already seen the last of him for the 2017-18 season. Stone hasn’t played since March 9, due to a leg injury.

“I can’t say we’re very enthusiastic for right now,” Senators coach Guy Boucher said Monday. “Hopefully, things get better and we see him before the end of the year, but I don’t think this week is an option. Unless it’s 100 per cent, we won’t go there.”

Stone, who becomes a restricted free agent in the summer, might consider bringing Boucher with him when it comes time to negotiate his contract. Boucher says Stone means as much to the Senators as Connor McDavid means to the Edmonton Oilers.

“If McDavid wasn’t there against us (a 6-2 win by Edmonton last Thursday), it would have been a different game. That’s what (Stone) is for us. That’s our guy. Stone is the high end guy where everything pivots around on our offence. He’s a point a game guy, a plus guy (in plus/minus numbers). Anybody you put with him will play well, so he’s the big equalizer for us and without him, it’s a gigantic hole.”

THE NUMBERS GAME: Stone has 62 points and Erik Karlsson is second on the club with 57 points. If Karlsson returns to finish out the season (he could be back Tuesday against the New York Islanders), he could overtake Stone to win the team scoring title for the fifth consecutive season … Filip Chlapik says he has relaxed a little since scoring his first NHL goal against Edmonton. “Every time it’s really nice when you get a goal, especially after it took me 12 games and you dream about it all your life and I hope it’s not going to be the only one.”

THE NAME GAME: Carolina’s Sebastian Aho, who dazzled at Canadian Tire Centre in Saturday’s 5-2 win over the Senators, was a little surprised by the media’s fascination when he played last week against the other Sebastian Aho. For the record, the Aho in Carolina is a 20-year-old centre/winger from Finland. The Islanders’ Aho is a 22-year-old defenceman from Sweden. “The first time I played against him was some under-17 national tournament or something, but I don’t think about it much,” said Carolina’s Aho. Do the two of them talk about it? “No, not really. I know media talk about it and it’s fun, but I don’t really care.” … One of my new favourite names in the NHL is Valentin Zykov. The former Gatineau Olympiques’ star had three goals and five points in five NHL games before Monday, including two goals and two assists in three games this season.

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